Stray in crisis

Wednesday at 11:30am, while I was in the parking lot of a mall, I saw a white cat walking around underneath cars and vans. It was periodically crying, and appeared skinny and very hungry. It also had some old wounds around its head, and the fur was disheveled in the back (probably due to the heavy rain we've been having). I leaned under a car and talked to it and it cried a bit and kept looking at me. Meanwhile, a few others gathered to help. A mother and her two pre-teen kids had gone to Petsmart and got some canned food, and the cat ate the food out of the can while the boy was holding it. The boy put some food on the ground and the cat ate ravenously. Another woman ran home and came back with a carrier and some dry food. I put some wet food in the back of the carrier and made a trail with the dry food to trap the cat and take it either to the Humane Society or to a clinic where I've taken other ferals for medical treatment and spay/neuter. When the cat was three quarters of the way into the carrier, instead of waiting for it to walk fully inside, I impulsively tried to nudge it into the carrier and close the door. It jumped out and it ran off into the patch of woods at the side of the mall. It had eaten quite a bit at that point and didn't come out again. Everyone was very upset, but there was nothing more to be done.

I'm thinking this cat is either semi-feral or a stray, because it was eating in front of five strangers. It could possibly have been a feral faced with starvation, desperate enough to surface during daylight in a parking lot. I suppose it could also have been sick--but I think it's more likely that it was very hungry, and a stray that had once been fed by humans, but put out and now semi-feral.

I've been depressed and worried about the situation and have gone back to that parking lot 6 times since Wednesday morning to look for the cat with a humane trap in my trunk to trap it and take it to a clinic. I've seen no sign of it. Yesterday morning I left out dry food at two places near the woods and as of sunset, it was untouched. This AM, it was gone, but raccoons could have easily eaten it during the night. I'm going to continue to try to look for the cat.

I called the manager of the store where the cat had been near and gave him my number and asked him to call me if anyone sees the cat again so I can try to trap it and get it tested and treated at a vet clinic. He said they would more likely call Animal Control. I am hoping this does not happen, because Animal Control would leave a trap out and return in 24 hours, and if the cat were trapped that long in this heat, it could die. If they did trap it, they would just euthanize it. I think this is a stray that could be socialized and saved.

A friend of mine, based on the photo I took of the cat, thinks the cat is ill. I think the cat was just scared, crying, and hungry. I'm going to continue to look for it for a while. If I hadn't been impatient and had waited a few more seconds to close the door of the carrier, the cat would be at a vet clinic now, getting ready to start a new life. Because of my mistake, this cat is still in crisis, and the people who tried to help me left feeling sad and disappointed--especially those two beautiful children who tried to help.  I'm especially upset with myself because I know better--I've trapped several cats before! I am hoping that someone else will be able to take the cat in, and that its experience with the carrier won't make it harder for someone to help it.

I was hoping that someone could say something to help me feel less horrible about this situation, but I guess that might not happen.

My guess is this cat come astray.   Without good hunting abilities it would look like that after some month.

Do you have any possibility to contact the other helpers there?   I think its quite possible some of them returned and fetched her.   For example this mom with two teenage kids, whom apparently did took deep interest in her.

Tx a lot for caring!

Good luck!

Thank you for at least trying; many would not do that. You had the best of intentions. I've done something similar; would of could have.
He appears underweight at the minimum.
You might put up signs, asking people to call you should they see the cat. Have you used a drop trap--that might work in this case.
Good luck!

I think we've all "jumped the gun" in our attempts tp trap sick cats. I know I am just so concerned for the poor things, I want to start helping as soon as I can. You are a good soul, trying to do a thankless job.

Vibes you find him again and that your trapping efforts are successful.

If I were able to find the cat again, then I'm sure I could trap it with my humane trap. The problem is that I haven't seen the cat again. I left out food again today in the area, and as of this evening, it was not eaten.

I don't know that the cat is sick--but it looks malnourished, scared, and has a few old fighting injuries.

I contacted the woman who brought the carrier, and she has not returned to look for the cat. I did not get the phone number from the mother and children.

I guess I did jump the gun in my anxiety to get the cat into the carrier. It's easy to give advice to others about trapping cats, but harder to follow that advice when in a situation like this when you may only get one shot at rescuing a cat. I guess I will continue to drive to the mall parking lot a few times a day for another week before giving up.

Thanks for the responses.

An update on this situation. Since last Wednesday when I first encountered this starving stray, I've been going to the area 2-3 times a day looking for him, before and after work.  I opened a Facebook account yesterday for the first time so I could post his picture on the local pet lost and found site, and by last night, two members of the local Humane Society board posted that they believe this cat was brought in by someone yesterday, found in the same parking lot area. They are hoping it will become healthy and sociable enough to be adopted. I'm driving over there later this morning to see if it is the cat I tried to help, and if it is, I will be very relieved! However, since it's a kill shelter, I will also be in a quandary if the cat's time runs out at the shelter because I already have 4 cats inside and have my hands full with them. I'm going to ask them to give the cat a SNAP test and I'll pay for it if they don't do this as part of their protocol when taking in a stray. If he's healthy and just malnourished, I'll try to get his story out in social media to encourage someone to adopt him from the shelter.  Please send out good vibes to this kitty

If you could get hold of this ma with these friendly pre-teen kids - they would prob want to adopt with just a little encouragement.

Frankly, it was my hope they did returned and collected this cat.

Good luck and lotsa *vibes!* to you and to this cat!!!

ps.  MsAimee, you know you can surely get this Friends of Ferales badge, as soon you care to apply for it?   

Stefan, I didn't get the phone number for the mom and kids, because the mom had returned to her car after the cat ran off in the woods. The kids stayed with me and tried to lure it back out for a while. I didn't feel right asking them for their phone number. I should have asked them to take me back to their mom and asked her, but I was distracted at the time! I will contact the woman who came back with the carrier if this cat is indeed at the shelter, because I did get her phone number. I'm going to the shelter when it opens in an hour and am hoping the cat is there!  If this turns out to be a wild goose chase and he's not there, I will be upset, but will continue to look for the cat.

I do hope it is the cat, if only to ease your mind. I also pray that your efforts either find the cat's owner (fingers crossed they are responsible) or that you find a home for it.

The Humane Society staff person I spoke with this AM said they definitely have this cat, that they sent a team out yesterday to trap him and he's in the shelter awaiting a vet exam. If he's healthy, they say they won't euthanize him. However, I know that even if he's healthy, he'll have maybe a month to get adopted or he'll get euthanized. I gave her my email address and asked that she let me know the results of the SNAP test and vet check, and that if he's healthy I can be involved with getting his story out and hoping someone will adopt him from the shelter. They wouldn't let me back to see him because he's not released to be around the general public yet, but she assured me this was definitely the cat I was trying to help. So I am very relieved! At least he won't be out in this heat starving and suffering. Thanks for your support! 

MsAimee said:

 
The Humane Society staff person I spoke with this AM said they definitely have this cat, that they sent a team out yesterday to trap him and he's in the shelter awaiting a vet exam. If he's healthy, they say they won't euthanize him. However, I know that even if he's healthy, he'll have maybe a month to get adopted or he'll get euthanized. I gave her my email address and asked that she let me know the results of the SNAP test and vet check, and that if he's healthy I can be involved with getting his story out and hoping someone will adopt him from the shelter. They wouldn't let me back to see him because he's not released to be around the general public yet, but she assured me this was definitely the cat I was trying to help. So I am very relieved! At least he won't be out in this heat starving and suffering. Thanks for your support! 

Click to expand...

This is just good news that at least he is at a shelter and no longer out alone.  Hopefully he gets a clean bill of health and loving home to follow.  Keep us all updated. 

You did so much to help this sweet soul.  My thoughts are with you and the cat for the best possible outcome.

Good news!  Thanks for the update.

Praying he is healthy and socialized and that he finds a great home...

I called the Humane Society this afternoon and was informed by a staff person, in a very unsympathetic way,  that the white cat was sick and the vet euthanized him yesterday. RIP little angel.

I am so sorry!  I don't doubt their word on this cat - you said he looked pretty bad.  But couldn't they have been kinder to you?  All you tried to do was help.  Sometimes this kind of thing just makes me so mad!

I can never understand why the shelters/SPCAs/Humane Societies have to treat people who really care like they were pests.  That is one reason I do not work with our local SPCA.

Sweetheart - you did all you possibly could for this poor kitty.  I for one send kudos to you for all you did.

I am so very very sorry.  You put your heart and soul into caring for the cat.  Fortunately he/she did not have die a painful suffering death.  You did all you could.  You will be in my thoughts. 

Thank you both for your kind words. I know it's silly because I didn't know this cat very long, but I'm crying quite a bit right now. I am glad that it's suffering is over and I hope its spirit is at peace.